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In a MAJOR victory for consumers, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission unanimously voted down the plan by the City of Indianapolis to have customers of Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL) subsidize the construction of electric car charging stations for a private company to run an electric car rental service.  Appearing on Afternoons with Amos, two individuals who fought extensively against the plan, Kerwin Olson Executive Director of Citizens Action Coalition and State Rep. Cherrish Pryor were extremely pleased at the IURC’s decision. A major reason for the community’s outrage and anger was the City saying IPL customers would pay the $16 million dollar cost of constructing electric power charging facilities for an electric car rental service to be run by a French-owned company Bollore.  The service, BlueIndy Car, would involve electric cars available for hourly or daily rentals. Wednesday (Feb 11th) The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) significantly modified IPL’s proposal. Eliminating $12.3 million of the $16 million cost by denying IPL the right to pass on the costs to IPL customers of installing of charging stations and kiosks for the BlueIndy electric vehicle project. The IURC did OK some $3 million to cover providing electric lines to the service. The same as IPL would do for someone opening a new building like an office building, shopping center or school. blue indy cars“While the Commission applauds the vision shown by the City of Indianapolis, BlueIndy, and IPL regarding their innovative electric car sharing program, we ultimately determined that there was insufficient evidence to justify the use of ratepayer funds to install infrastructure owned by a private company,” said Commission Chair Carol Stephan. “As such, we encourage the parties to continue to work together to provide this service to our community’s residents and visitors.” The IURC’s decision is a big victory for consumer groups and elected officials like State Rep. Cherrish Pryor who vehemently fought against the pan. It’s a major defeat for Mayor Greg Ballard who strongly pushed for the project with Bollore. The French-owned company also made a major mistake in their refusal to talk to the community about the plan. In fact in the IURC’s decision, Bollore admitted their Blue Indy plan who had financial projects or business plan and couldn’t provide estimates of profitability, cash flow or revenue projections. Even though the IURC voted unanimously against against the plan, one member who have eliminated any funding for any aspect of the Blue Car plan. While another would’ve have OK’d it, put made IPL customers earning less than 200% of the federal Poverty Level from paying for it.  Click the Link to Read the IURC’s Decision. IURC ORDER AGAINST IPL AND BLUEINDY CAR  Click the Media Player to Hear the Afternoons with Amos Interview with Rep. Cherrish Pryor and Kerwin Olsen. Runs 16 Minutes ©2015 WTLC/Radio One.